Student Resources:

1L Law School Reading Assignments

If you have spent any time asking advice from law students who
have completed their 1L law school year, you will frequently be
told to keep up with the reading. As a 1L law student, from day
one, you will have assigned reading for each class. Expect to
have between 300 – 450 pages of assigned reading per week.
Spending more than two hours reading for each class, may leave
you wondering if there is a good short-cut for this
process—there isn’t. In addition to the reading, you should be
preparing notes on each case (briefs) for use during class and
when studying for exams.

In general, about 90% of your 1L law school reading assignment
will be comprised of cases. The cases that you are assigned are
not going to be mundane. They are in your case book because they
offer the 1L law student some benefit. Usually the cases stand
for a rule of law, modify a rule of law, or misapply a rule of
law. Some of the cases you will be assigned will be impossible
to figure out. You will often be reading very detailed, lengthy
cases. You will need to understand these cases backwards and
forwards, in case you are called on in class. You will often
need clarification and turn to a treatise or other secondary
source for guidance. Do not skimp on class preparation.

What Strategy Should a 1L Law Student Use for Reading?

There are many different opinions on how to read cases most
effectively. Some will suggest you read each case once, slowly.
Others will recommend that you read cases twice at varying
speeds. Some people write notes in the case book, others
highlight.

We recommend that you experiment with different methods for
reading cases and find what works best for you. Whatever method
you decide on, you will need to understand the cases and be able
to discuss them in class if called upon. Because you will have
the case open in your book, putting some kind of notes or
highlight on the page can often be useful.

You should never be tempted to skim the reading. You will not be
able to get the points of the case by skimming. Do your best to
understand the story of the case. Some find it useful to
visualize the facts. Others like to draw pictures. Regardless,
read actively. Have a legal dictionary handy
(here’s a cheap
pocket version). Professors like to ask 1L law students about
the meaning of obscure terms. If you haven’t done so,
familiarize yourself with the Law School Coach –
1L Law School
Dictionary. It contains many of the basic terms you will need to
know.

How to Brief a 1L Law School Case

A 1L case brief is a short summary and analysis of the
assigned case that you will prepare for class (and later use to
study). It is a set of notes that presents information in a
systematic way so that you can quickly make sense of a case.
Case briefing is an essential skill that you will use repeatedly
throughout your career as a lawyer. If you want to do well
during your 1L law school year, you have to brief your cases.
Briefing the cases has four major benefits. First, briefing
teaches you the rules of law. Second, they familiarize you with
the mechanisms of how courts work. Third, they give you practice
at a skill you will need as a lawyer. And, finally, they prepare
you for the class discussion.
Some will tell you that case briefs have 6 elements, others 7 or
8. Our recommendation is that you tailor the brief to both the
professor and your personal preferences. At a minimum, each case
brief should have:

Facts

Issue

Reasoning

Holding

In addition, you can add procedural history, court/date,
concurring/dissenting opinion, rule of law, etc… You should
decide whether to do the brief as you read the case, or whether
it works better to read the case fully before briefing.

Each time you read a case, make it your job to pull out the
essential elements, think about them, and put them in your own
words. You may find it helpful to brief your cases on the
computer. If you do this, our suggestion is to type your briefs
in a different color. Then, in class, add whatever you need to
in standard black type. That way, you will start to see what you
have left out of the brief. Stylistically, you also want to
abbreviate the parties’ names. Some people use P for plaintiff
and D for defendant. Others—with the help of shortcut keys—use π
(pi) for plaintiff, and Δ (delta) for defendant.